“Hey baby,” Julia smiled at her dog as she set the water bowl down on the floor beside the full food bowl. The dog barked at her happily.
“I’ll be back this afternoon. Try not to get into too much trouble.” She scratched the dog’s ears briefly before she walked out the door. Her purse was on the table.

~

She hailed a cab while standing on the curb, and smiled again as one rolled to a stop in front of her. Today was going to be a good day.
“Wait!” A woman in an abused suit ran up to her. “Please, can I share the cab with you? I’m late for work, and if I don’t get in before my boss does he’ll fire me.”
Julia gave a kind smile. “You bet.” She let the woman get in before her. Unconsciously she moved her hand to her waist where her purse would normally be hanging.
“Damn.”
The woman frowned. “What’s the matter?”
“I left my purse in my apartment.”
“Are you going to go get it?”
Julia sighed and look back up to the building, and back down at the lady sitting in the car. The poor woman looked very stressed.
“Nah. I have my keys and some cash. It’ll be okay.”
She looked relieved and Julia grinned. “Where’re you headed?” She asked as her new friend as she got in and shut the door.
“Fifth Street. Big ugly looking building.”
Julia laughed, and settled as the cab started up and pulled away from the sidewalk.

~

They chatted as the cab stopped at a red light on the intersection in front of Julia’s apartment building. The light turned green, and the cab drove through.
A white truck ran through the intersection and slammed into the side of the cab.

~

“Wait!” A woman in an abused suit ran up to her. “Please, can I share the cab with you? I’m late for work, and if I don’t get in before my boss does he’ll fire me.”
Julia gave a kind smile. “You bet.” She let the woman get in before her. Unconsciously she moved her hand to her waist where her purse would normally be hanging.
“Damn.”
The woman frowned. “What’s the matter?”
“I left my purse in my apartment.”
“Are you going to go get it?”
Julia sighed and look back up to the building, and back down at the lady sitting in the car. The poor woman looked very stressed.
“Yeah, but why don’t you go ahead? I’ll get another one.”
The woman nodded, her expression appreciative. She shut the door, and the cab moved away.
Julia turned to walk back to the building, and stopped in front of the door. She wasn’t sure why, but she was compelled to turn around.
A white blur and the horrible noise of metal being crushed was her answer.

~

“Can I share the cab with you?”
Julia didn’t catch the rest of the woman’s sentence. She shook her head.
“No, I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry. You’ll have to get the next one.”
She ignored the guilty feeling she got at the woman’s hurt and helpless expression and got into the car, only then remembering that she had left her purse on the kitchen table.
“Seventh, please.”
The driver nodded, and the cab pulled away from the curb, to stop again at the red light. A minute later it turned green, and he started through.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught a white-colored movement. “Watch out!”
The driver swerved into the oncoming lane, where a black Mercedes already half way through veered the other way and gunned it’s engines to narrowly miss the car.
And barreled onto the sidewalk where the woman had been waiting for another cab.

~

“Damn.”
The woman frowned. “What’s the matter?”
“I left my purse in my apartment.”
“Are you going to go get it?”
Julia sighed and look back up to the building, and back down at the lady sitting in the car. The poor woman looked very stressed.
“Yeah. Could you hold the cab?” The woman looked as if she were about to say no, so she added quickly, “Please? It’ll only take a minute.”
The woman scowled, and the sighed. “Okay. But please hurry.”
Julia nodded swiftly, and then took off. She made it up a flight of stairs, into her apartment, and back down in less than two minutes.
“That’s gotta be a record.” She said breathlessly when she got back to the cab. But the woman’s attention wasn’t on her. Julia followed her gaze to the intersection.
“What happened?”
“That white truck almost hit that Mercedes. I mean, he missed him by like an inch.”
Julia shook her head. “Crazy drivers.” She turned to the woman and smiled. “Let’s go.”

------She's two-thirds rice crispy treat; she's snapped and crackled, now we're just waiting for the final pop.